About Our ForumsGaming Trend and its forums are all about gaming. That said, you'll find that we have a healthy amount of discussion in other areas such as sports, hardware/software support, real life, off-topic, and to a degree even religion and politics. With this mix of topics and a wide array of people discussing them we have outlined a few rules (subject to change without notice) for anyone who participates on these boards Ė they are outlined below.

Unfortunately, thanks to the semi-anonymity of the Internet, some people get out of line in conversations or the items they post. While the rules are spelled out below, I'll once again state that we have little tolerance for direct attacks, offensive pictures, or other behavior that disrupts our community. Every post has a 'report post' icon that you can click on if you find a post that violates the rules below and you want to quickly notify one of our moderators. We take the moderation of these boards seriously, both to keep the discussions fun and also because we have people from many major development and publishing house reading the boards. Does this mean that if you have a bad day and step out of line once you will be permanently banned? It is unlikely Ė you will probably be warned and, if the pattern of behavior continues, you may be banned temporarily or permanently. Specifics are spelled out below.

Our moderation staff is here to help you enjoy the experience. The team is comprised of Naednek, and Farley2K. Respect them as you would respect me and everyone will get along fine.

The forums are here for everyone's enjoyment. A little civility and thought goes a long way here. I hope that you will enjoy the forums and I look forward to an engaging conversation with you in the near future!

Ron BurkeDirector of Gaming Trend

Rules

Personal Attacks & Common SensePersonal attacks, hate speech and personal vendettas are simply not allowed on our boards. This is not a place for combat or flame wars. If you're having a problem with anger management, get it under control, or find another internet forum to post on. If you have something against another poster you will either need to keep silent or be respectful of their opinions. Feel free to engage in discussion, but keep it civil. If you can't talk to other people as if they're intelligent, you wonít be posting here for long. Don't talk down to your fellow posters, don't lecture them, and don't beat people over the head with your opinions as though they were facts. Use common sense and everyone will be happier. Be respectful of other users and industry representatives that may post on the forums. We want this to be a fun place to come and share ideas and stories. This also includes private messaging. Do not take this to private message whether you are using the Forum messaging features or personal emails.

TrollingThe posting of inflammatory, rude, repetitive or offensive messages designed to annoy or antagonize other posters or disrupt the flow of discussion is not allowed here. If you are looking for a place to do this youíve come to the wrong forum and will be quickly shown the door.In addition, please do not respond to any baiting. By responding you are giving the troll what they want - a reaction out of you. This will soon escalate and get quickly out of hand.

Stay on TopicDo not hijack other people's thread. It is very easy to switch topics within a thread, it's not fair to the original poster. If you like to discuss something else, please create a new thread.

Piracy/Warez Do not post links to piracy or warez websites or mention where or how people can do such things. Even cleverly or creatively letting people know where to go is not permitted. NEWIf you have a pirated game/media please do not discuss this here at GT, please take it elsewhere. We depend on our relationships with developers and publishers to make our website successful. Do not post something that might jeopardize this.

Nudity/Porn Pictures or LinksGaming Trend is a safe for work environment. Occasionally, we have threads that skirt the edge of being work safe. These threads must be marked as NSFW (Not Safe For Work). Essentially, think late night syndicated TV, not Skinemax. Nudity (or anything beyond it) is expressly forbidden from being posted in image form. (a.k.a. Everything leading up to, but no naughty bits) If you decide to link to something that contains questionable, crude, vulgar, or anything of an explicit nature, please mark it accordingly. Don't post or link to porn - this is not the place for it. With NSFW in play, extra moderation may be required - please don't take it personally...we are simply trying to keep Gaming Trend a safe environment for everyone.

SignaturesSignatures are allowed, but try to keep them relatively short so they donít become a distraction from the flow of the forums. Images or banners are not allowed in your signature. Personal websites linked in your signature are typically okay as long as they donít violate any of our rules. If you have any doubts ask a moderator.

AvatarsJPG and 80x80. No Gif, no exceptions. Please refrain from using a NSFW image as your avatar. While GT generally allows NSFW threads that are specifically labeled as NSFW, it is impossible to do so with Avatars.

Pimping your WebsiteThis is not a place to pimp your personal website, Myspace page or Ebay auction - it's a place for people to share ideas and have fun. Occasionally mentioning a personal website is probably acceptable, repeatedly mentioning it isnít. Have enough sense to become part of the community before you test this theory - your first post shouldn't be about your site.

Multiple Forum AccountsMultiple usernames (or alts) are not allowed. Infractions against this will result in permanent banning from the site.

Trading/SellingThis board has a dedicated Trading Forum for game trades and sales. This is the only place on our board where this is allowed. The Trading Forum also has its own rules about what and how you may trade/sell so please read those before you post there. If your sole purpose for registering here is to sell stuff you belong on Ebay.

Post PaddingSpamming this forum will not gain you points, stars, a cookie or anything else. Please add something to the conversation here.

Private MessagesThey are called PRIVATE messages. They stay that way. Posting what was sent in a PM constitutes a breach of good sense. If you need something addressed that badly, you can report a PM to a mod. Please do so.

ProfanityWe are trying to make this a work-safe environment. This means that we expressly forbid swearing in post titles, usernames, and signatures. It also means that you may wish to throttle back your use of 'colorful' language. While we do not overtly outlaw swearing, we ask that you use it in moderation Ė think FX network, not The Sopranos. Repeated and flagrant disregard for this policy will result in editing, deleting, or other more dire consequences.

Other RulesThe Moderators and Gaming Trend Staff reserve the right to add or subtract rules or edit this list. If we make changes to our rules we will post a notice on the forum so everyone can be aware of the change.

Rule Infraction ConsequencesWhile each infraction will be handled on a case by case basis, repeated violations of the rules will be handled as below:First Infraction = Warning via PM, and your post may be edited for content if necessarySecond Infraction = Warning and possible temporary suspension of account for 1 week.Third Infraction = You need time to learn. Take a vacation for an amount determined by moderation staff no less than 3 months.Fourth Infraction = Permanent suspension from the entire site. This means I ban your IP from reaching the front page or reading the forums. You are no longer welcome.